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Stephen Michael Huntz
St. Louis Cardinals
Second Base - Shortstop
Born: December 3, 1945, Cleveland, OH
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1967, 1969; San Diego Padres 1970; Chicago White Sox 1971; San Diego Padres 1975
Michael Augustine Torrez
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher
Born: August 28, 1946, Topeka, KS
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, September 10, 1964
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1967-1971; Montreal Expos 1971-1974; Baltimore Orioles 1975; Oakland Athletics 1976-1977; New York Yankees 1977; Boston Red Sox 1978-1982; New York Mets 1983-1984; Oakland Athletics 1984
World Series Appearances: New York Yankees 1977
Infielder Steve Huntz played professionally for 14 seasons, spending parts of 10 of those seasons in Triple-A. He appeared in 71 games for the Cardinals in 1969, most regularly as shortstop Dal Maxvill's (#320) back-up. Dealt to the Padres at the start of the 1970 season, Huntz appeared in a career-high 106 big league games, batting .219 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. He made 92 starts that season - 49 at third base and 43 at shortstop - for Preston Gomez's (#74) sixth place club. Huntz appeared in 35 games in 1971 with the White Sox and made a brief big league comeback with the Padres, playing in 22 games in May and June 1975. He'd play for two more seasons in the Padres' minor league system before retiring following the 1977 campaign. In 237 major league games, Huntz batted .206 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs.
Mike Torrez pitched in parts of 18 big league seasons, pitching sporadically with the Cardinals over his first five seasons in the majors. He'd find some success with the Expos, winning 16 games in 1972 and 15 games in 1974, before earning his first and only 20-win season with the Orioles in 1975. Torrez's best season statistically came with the Athletics in 1976, when he was 16-12 with a 2.50 ERA in 39 starts. Early in the 1977 season Torrez joined the Yankees' starting pitching rotation, and he'd bolster Billy Martin's (#547) starting pitching rotation by leading the team with 15 complete games. Torrez won two World Series games as the Bronx Bombers defeated the Dodgers in six. The following season, after signing a seven-year deal with the Red Sox, Torrez gave up a three-run home run to Bucky Dent in the final tie-breaking game of the season, ultimately sending the Yankees back to the ALCS.
Building the Set / Card #170
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
100 more to go! This is the 93rd of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Huntz Accuracy Index +5 / Torrez Accuracy Index +1
This is Huntz's rookie card, and he'd get his first solo card in the 1970 Topps set. Torrez appeared on a Rookie Stars card in 1968, with Hal Gilson (#156), and this card copies the photo Topps had already used.
Accuracy Index: Huntz gets a standard +5, but Torrez drops to a +1 since the photo here is a repeat.
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Huntz
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #136
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1969-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1976 SSPC #126
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 21 in the Beckett online database as of 11/12/23.
Sources - Huntz:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Torrez
First Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #162
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1968-1971, 1973-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 UD Rivals #18
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 98 in the Beckett online database as of 11/12/23.
Sources - Torrez:
1969 Season - Huntz
Huntz made the Cardinals' opening day roster and spent the season primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement. Of his 71 games played, 37 were starts, mostly at shortstop. His best game of the season came on September 26th when he went 3 for 4 with a pair of home runs against the Expos. Huntz went to spring training with the Cardinals in 1970, but was dealt to the Padres on April 2, 1970 in exchange for Billy McCool (#129).
Huntz made the Cardinals' opening day roster and spent the season primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement. Of his 71 games played, 37 were starts, mostly at shortstop. His best game of the season came on September 26th when he went 3 for 4 with a pair of home runs against the Expos. Huntz went to spring training with the Cardinals in 1970, but was dealt to the Padres on April 2, 1970 in exchange for Billy McCool (#129).
1969 Season - Torrez
This was Torrez' first full season with the Cardinals, and he was 10-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 24 games, including 15 starts. He threw three complete games and was a decent back-end of the rotation starter for a rotation that boasted Bob Gibson (#200) and Steve Carlton (#255) at the top.
This was Torrez' first full season with the Cardinals, and he was 10-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 24 games, including 15 starts. He threw three complete games and was a decent back-end of the rotation starter for a rotation that boasted Bob Gibson (#200) and Steve Carlton (#255) at the top.
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Other Notable Baseball Cards - Huntz
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #136
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4): 1969-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1976 SSPC #126
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 21 in the Beckett online database as of 11/12/23.
Sources - Huntz:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Torrez
First Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #162
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1968-1971, 1973-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 UD Rivals #18
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 98 in the Beckett online database as of 11/12/23.
Sources - Torrez:
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